Page 1 - NY Cooperator December 2019
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December 2019 
                                COOPERATOR.COM 
Since their insurgence over the last doz- 
en years, Airbnb, Homeaway/VRBO and  
other  home-sharing  sites  using  a  similar  
model have provided travelers all across  
the globe with alternative—often more af- 
fordable—accommodation to hotels, mo- 
tels, inns, and B&Bs. The home-sharing  
model  certainly  has  been  an  economic  
boon to budget-seeking travelers, locales  
with weak tourism, and property owners  
who use the services as an income stream.  
In  many  cases,  however—particularly  in  
larger cities in the US—renting out one’s  
home on a short-term basis (typically any- 
thing less than 30 days) is actually illegal.  
In  cities  like  New York, laws  precluding  
these types of transactions have been on  
the books for years; other cities have re- 
cently passed or are in the process of pass- 
ing laws that are essentially reactions to  
the deleterious effects of home-sharing on  
city budgets, community character, gentri- 
fication, housing scarcity, and residential  
safety.  
Share and Share Dislike 
Like with many of the titans of the  
so-called ‘share economy’—ride-sharing  
services like Uber and Lyft; office-shares  
like WeWork—the practical application  
of home-sharing has shifted from a literal  
‘share’  to something   less personal,  and  
more transactional. Just as the car-share  
model has morphed from hitching a ride  
with a fellow commuter to basically hailing  
a private livery service, the typical home- 
share is not of the ‘stay in my spare bed- 
room for a week’ variety.  
According  to Inside Airbnb, an  inde- 
pendent, non-commercial set of tools and  
data intended to show how Airbnb is re- 
ally being used in cities around the world,  
51.8% of New York City’s approximately  
continued on page 10  
In markets throughout the nation, 2019 was a year of uncertainty, reflecting change  
in the basic mechanisms of how we view, buy, and sell real estate.  That uncertainty  
extended to all markets, from traditional single-family homes to co-ops and condo- 
miniums, to commercial properties – and the same factors that affected markets in  
2019 are expected to continue to reverberate in 2020. 
Taxes, Real Estate, and…Taxes 
When it comes to home ownership, the conventional wisdom of economists after  
World War II (and the government policy that followed it)” held that appreciation  
of real estate as the primary asset of middle-class families was the most successful  
and secure way to build wealth and insure a comfortable retirement – particularly  
when combined with Social Security retirement benefits.  As a result, and to encour- 
age home purchases and long-term ownership, government at all levels offered ben- 
efits to families in the form of tax deductions. The federal government enshrined that  
approach by providing a deduction for state and local income and real estate taxes  
against income in federal income tax filings.   
Over the decades since the mid-20th century, the evolution of deductible taxes  
has developed in two main directions, sometimes simultaneously.  Some states and  
municipalities have enacted state and local income taxes, while others – especially at  
the local level – have levied higher and higher real estate taxes to provide for superior  
schools and other civil services.  These state and local taxes (often abbreviated with  
the acronym SALT) became an important consideration in home prices, as they had  
long-term effects on the after-tax cost of home ownership.  In most cases, these de- 
ductions made homes in high-tax areas more affordable, after tax considerations were  
In today’s world of high-tech property  
management and building security, there  
are more options than ever for managers  
and boards to choose from to keep their  
communities on the cutting edge. There  
are web- and device-based apps for ev- 
erything from package delivery to door  
entry to bill paying. When considering  
updating, or introducing new manage- 
ment or security technology, the question  
for co-op and condo board members and  
their building managers is not necessar- 
ily which tech is best, but rather which is  
most easily adaptable for the people who  
will actually be using it: the residents. 
Broad Spectrum 
There are any number of technologies  
designed to improve efficiency, safety,  
and security in all aspects of property  
management and communication for co- 
op and condo communities. They come  
in all shapes and sizes, from simple in- 
dividual apps designed to answer your  
doorbell or track and accept packages, to  
broad-based, integrated systems designed  
to  do  just  about  everything.  Choosing  
one over the other is often a function of  
the size and complexity of the association  
or corporation using it. A five-unit walk- 
up condo has significantly different needs  
than a 500-unit co-op with multiple el- 
evator banks – but regardless of commu- 
nity size, for any app- or web-based tech  
assistance to be successful, the people liv- 
ing in the community have to believe in  
and use it. 
BuildingLink  is  both  a  communica- 
tion tool and a management tool, based  
in New York City with clients through- 
out the United States, Canada and inter- 
nationally. Their overall system includes  
many different modules that support ser- 
vices ranging from document delivery to  
communication with residents, key secu- 
rity to maintenance schedules. According  
to company CEO Zachary Kestenbaum,  
communication on all levels and about  
all subjects is the key. Functional, effec- 
tive management/security tech should  
provide “everything related to operations  
calculated in the cost of ownership. 
The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 changed that.  While the  
new law increased the dollar amount for a standard deduction by  
doubling it, the change also capped SALT deductions at $10,000  
per year for a married couple filing jointly.  That cap increased  
the after-tax cost of home ownership, ultimately depressing or  
even permanently decreasing values, and therefore prices. 
2019-2020 Round-up  
and Projection  
The Year that Was, The Year to Come 
BY  A J SIDRANSKY 
The Illegal Home- 
Sharing Issue 
Safety and Security Concerns 
BY DARCEY GERSTEIN 
Introducing New  
Security Tech in  
Your Building  
The Challenge of Change 
BY A J SIDRANSKY 
205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED 
continued on page 2  
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